Custom tools · CRM
A custom CRM for service businesses, shaped around how you sell
A custom CRM for service businesses is a CRM built around how you sell: jobs, quotes, and money in one place, with your real process as the pipeline instead of someone else's stages. We design it, build it, host it, and fix it when it breaks. You work in it; we keep it running.
HubSpot and Salesforce serve teams that sell from a desk. A 12-person installation company's sale looks different: one job runs from lead to site visit to quote, then deposit, supplier order, install date, invoice. Software that can't hold that chain pushes half your process into spreadsheets and the rest into your head.
Lazer Lab is an automation studio based in Toronto, working with clients anywhere. If the tool you need doesn't exist, we build it and run it for you on a monthly plan.
Google Sheets
Gmail
QuickBooks
Airtable
NotionWhen custom beats HubSpot or Salesforce, and when it doesn't
Keep HubSpot if HubSpot fits. If your pipeline is lead, call, proposal, close, and your team opens the CRM without being nagged, a custom build is the wrong way to spend your money. We'd sooner wire automations into the CRM you have; we build on top of HubSpot and Salesforce, and we'll quote you that instead if it solves the problem.
For a service business that size, custom starts to win when the workarounds outnumber the features you use:
If your industry needs certified compliance like HIPAA or SOC 2, we refer you out to specialists who carry it.
- Your sale spans tools that don't talk. Jobber holds the job, QuickBooks holds the invoice, Gmail holds the quote, and a spreadsheet holds the truth.
- The pipeline can't model your process. Quote, deposit, supplier order, install, invoice is not a stage list off-the-shelf CRMs ship with.
- You pay for seats your team doesn't use, and the data entry still happens at 11pm.
- One missed follow-up costs a job, and the follow-up system is your memory.
What a custom CRM build includes
One place to run work across your tools. We scope the build around your process and wire in the plumbing, because a CRM that waits on manual data entry goes stale in weeks.
- Jobs, quotes, and money on one screen instead of five tabs.
- Connections to the tools you keep: Jobber, QuickBooks, Gmail, Outlook, Stripe, Google Calendar, and most others.
- Automations built in from day one. The record updates when the email arrives or the payment lands, with zero re-typing between apps.
- Portals and dashboards as siblings of the same build. A portal lets customers check their own status; a dashboard shows you the whole business at a glance. Start with one, add the others when they earn it.
- Hosting, monitoring, and every fix included in the monthly. If it breaks, we fix it, and there is no invoice.
One flow, start to finish: job marked sold
Take that 12-person installation company. Marking a job sold sets off five handoffs, and today each of them lives in the owner's head. With a custom CRM underneath, the same click runs the chain:
At Sauna Depot, the system we run handles about 80% of everyday requests on its own, customer emails included. Quotes and routine replies go out the same day, with zero re-typing between apps.
What it costs
We price custom builds on the 20-minute call, and we won't invent a sticker price for a system we haven't scoped. You get phases, pricing, and ownership in writing before we build anything; if the number doesn't work, you say no and it costs nothing.
After launch the build runs on a monthly plan covering hosting, monitoring, and every fix. Rates lock for your first 12 months, you can cancel anytime with no exit fees, and prices are in CAD. Standard plans run $599 to $2,499+ per month, and the Ops plan ($2,499+/mo, $5,000-7,500 setup) includes custom CRM, dashboard, or portal projects, scoped and priced in writing.
An in-house engineer runs $100-160k a year fully loaded, plus 3-6 months of ramp before anything useful ships. If one broken handoff is the problem rather than a whole system, Core is $599/mo plus $1,500 setup (waived on a 12-month term) and goes live in 1-3 weeks. We'll tell you on the call if that's the better answer.
How a build starts
Book the 20-minute call and bring the messiest part of your week: the spreadsheet with nine tabs, the quote you forgot to chase. We'll map where a system pays off, and if a custom CRM is the wrong move, we'll say so on the call.
After the call you get the scope in writing: phases, pricing, and ownership, agreed before we build. Then we build it, run it, and fix it when it breaks. Book the 20-minute call.
Questions about this
Should we customize HubSpot instead of building a custom CRM?
If HubSpot can hold your process, yes. It costs less than a build, and we wire automations into it rather than replacing it. Custom wins when the workarounds pile up: the sale spans Jobber, QuickBooks, and Gmail, half the process lives in spreadsheets, and the stages don't match how a job moves. On the call we'll tell you which side you're on, even when the answer loses us the project.
How long does a custom CRM take to build?
Longer than an automation, and we won't fake a number before scoping your process. For comparison, most of our automations go live in 1-4 weeks and Core builds ship in 1-3. We split a CRM into phases and agree each one in writing before we start.
Who owns the CRM after it's built?
We agree ownership in writing before we build, alongside phases and pricing; that's what the Custom scope is. No matter where ownership lands, your accounts, logins, and data stay yours, and you can cancel anytime with no exit fees.
What happens after launch if something breaks or my process changes?
We host, monitor, and fix the system as part of the monthly plan. If something we built breaks, we fix it and there's no invoice. We scope ongoing support with the build, and we phase and price bigger changes in writing, the same way we did the original build.
Bring the job that eats the most hours.
A 20-minute call. Nothing to prepare. If automation isn't the right move, you'll hear it on the call.
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